FSDH set to strengthen core operational activities

By Michael Eboh
First Securities Discount House (FSDH) Limited has stated that its plans to strengthen its activities in the months ahead, to take advantage of opportunities in the Nigerian and international financial landscape.

Speaking at its annual general meeting in Lagos, last week, Chairman of the company, Mr. Ibrahim Dikko, noted that its plans to strengthen the company becomes necessary so as to enable it withstand any buffeting that might occur in the course of its business.

To this end, he stated that the companyâ€™s management style, dividend policy and risk profile are aimed at strengthening the organisation and ensuring that it remains profitable in years to come.
He said, â€œWe have been prudent in our risk profile, so we were not been affected by some of the bad loans provisioning that some of the financial institutions have to make.

â€œWe have always been a prudent financial institutions and that have helped us. Also, our ability to trade as well, has come to the fore. The trading side of the discount house has done very well indeed.

â€œWe also have diversified our earning stream, where we have more than one business, we have a group structure, so, everybody have pulled their weight together. We have a pension fund business, discount house business, asset management and stockbroking business.

â€œAs activities slowed down in the capital market, we slowed down on our activities there, so as to control our cost, and waited for the market to start recovery which we have started to see.

â€œOur long term investment in Pensions Alliance Limited have paid off tremendously, they are now quite a profitable company and that have helped a lot. Also, the discount house have maintained a very strong earnings.
â€œOur decision to pay N0.20 dividend is good. If one analyses it, one will find that it is almost 14 per cent more than what we did last year. So, for a half year result, it is good.

â€œWe have retained earnings, as well, so our shareholdersâ€™ capital is now a little over N15 billion. We also want to strengthen our institution so that it can withstand any buffeting.

â€œThis has made us to take a prudent line in our dividend payout. While we want to keep our shareholders happy, we also want to keep our institution strong.â€

Speaking in the same vein, Mr. Rilwan Belo-Osagie, Managing Director of the company, expressed optimism on the continued growth and profitability of the company in the years ahead, despite the challenges in the countryâ€™s financial landscape.

According to him, the company will continually tap into its internal strengths and capabilities in order to exploit opportunities as they arise.

He further stated that the company will remain focused on its core strength area and will broaden its activities strategically whenever the opportunities arise, so as to create synergy.